TMCnet News
TDS announces completion of two more Wisconsin-based ARRA broadband stimulus projects(ENP Newswire Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) ENP Newswire - 09 April 2014 Release date- 08042014 - TDS Telecom (TDS) announces completion of two more American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) stimulus-funded broadband Internet projects in Wisconsin. TDS is receiving funding for 44 projects, including these two, from the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Rural Utilities Service (RUS) as part of the ARRA. More than 350 residents between Prairie du Chien and Lancaster in the southwest part of Wisconsin, now have access to high-speed Internet service. In mid-January, TDS announced a portion of this project was accessible to customers. Now, it's finished. In total, nearly 20 miles of fiber optics cabling was installed and nine cabinets (which protect the advanced network electronics) were placed in order to connect more residents and businesses to high-speed Internet service in TDS' Grantland Telecom exchange. TDS projected the cost at about $2.2 million. The RUS grant covered 75 percent of the cost and TDS invested the remaining 25 percent (more than $550,000) to expand broadband to more businesses and residents. In the Fox Valley, TDS' stimulus-funded project around Stockbridge and Tisch Mills is also complete. For this project, in TDS' Stockbridge & Sherwood Telephone Company, about 12 miles of fiber optics cabling and 10 cabinets were installed. In late January, TDS announced a portion of this project was available to customers. Now that it's complete, more than 600 residents have gained access to high-speed Internet service in this area. TDS projected the cost at about $2.5 million. The RUS grant covered 75 percent of the cost and TDS invested the remaining 25 percent (more than $600,000) to expand broadband to more businesses and residents. Nationwide, more than 95 percent of TDS customers already have access to high-speed Internet service. TDS is intent on providing as many remaining customers with broadband connectivity as possible. According to TDS, federal stimulus funds are helping to close the gap and deliver Internet connectivity to more than 27,000 customers. TDS Telecom, the seventh largest local exchange telephone company in the U.S., is a wholly owned subsidiary of Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. TDS Telecom provides 1.1 million connections to high-speed Internet, phone, and TV entertainment services to customers in more than a hundred rural, suburban, and metropolitan communities. TDS Telecom offers businesses the latest communications solutions, including: VoIP (managedIP Hosted) phone service, dedicated high-speed Internet and hosted-managed services. Visit tdstelecom.com or tdsbusiness.com. TDS Telecom, headquartered in Madison, Wis., operates OneNeck IT Solutions LLC and TDS Baja Broadband LLC. Combined, the company employs 3,100 people. Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. [NYSE: TDS], a Fortune 500 company, provides wireless; cable and wireline broadband, TV and voice; and hosted and managed services to approximately 5.9 million customers nationwide through its subsidiaries TDS Telecom and U.S. Cellular. Founded in 1969 and headquartered in Chicago, Telephone and Data Systems employs 10,500 people. Visit teldta.com. (c) 2014 Electronic News Publishing - |